chrisb Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 The front wingstays are getting very scruffy on my car. I have decided to take them off and have them re-powder coated. I have searched the archive, and it appears I should be able to get them off relatively easily. However, in practice things are never that easy!! 1. The nuts holding the wings to the stays are seized solid! So I think they might beed cutting off. 2. It appears that I need to remove the front springs to get enough access to a nut on the back of the front hub to release the bottom of the stay. It is then held on by another nut connecting to the bottom of the steering balljoint. Now - 1 - I assume thats self evident! New front wings wouldn't be much of an issue anyway. 2. What do I need in order to take the springs off? Does the nut attached to the bottom of the balljoint just undo allowing the stay to be lowerd and removed? Thanks for any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisb Posted January 6, 2005 Author Share Posted January 6, 2005 I should say - Having looked at it last night, I can see that the ball joint doesn't need to be split in order to get the wing off, assuming that by removing the nut attached to the bottom the stay will just drop down.... I am more concerned about undoing the front suspension. I assume I need to compress the spring to remove the pressure on the mount. I am also assuming I need a special tool to do this. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted January 6, 2005 Support Team Share Posted January 6, 2005 You won't need a spring compressor. Just jack the car up and then undo the bottom damper mount - it's an allen bolt, can't remember the size but it is imperial. - and move the damper out of the way. That should give you enough room to undo the bolt holding the wing stay although I can't picture it in my mind so not entirely sure what else that affects. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warrent Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Chrisb, Just done this the other weekend 😬 The bolts holding the wings to the stays were seized up aswell. I drilled them out, allowing the wings to be simply lifted off. As to getting access to the bolts, I took the dampers of aswell. I suppose if you have some good trick tools you wont need to, but with my Halfords stuff it was easier to remove them (I was going to replace springs aswell). Like Shaun said, just unbolt and pull out. Easy job really 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe 90 Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 Rusty wing attachment bolts are standard fit. I've replaced mine with stainless. I use the same technique as Shaun, disconnect the damper bottom attachment point and you get enough clearance. IIRC the flexible brake hose goes through the stay, so you have to undo that too. SEP field working, not spotted in 103,100 miles. Some photos on webshots, updated 21 Sept Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted January 6, 2005 Share Posted January 6, 2005 If you turn the steering to full lock you should be able to get access to the nut holding the stub axle in without touching the springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisb Posted January 6, 2005 Author Share Posted January 6, 2005 Magic - Thanks for your help. Lets see what tonight brings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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